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{Heart4Teens.com} *Let's Make a Deal*

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If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teen.com readers around the world by visiting: http://www.Heart4Teens.com

Visit our inspirational web site to read all the past articles in our archives and view the tons of resources we have there for teens!

http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Teen_Stories

Be sure to check out our other inspirational email list and web site!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com

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Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95)

Visit the link below to preview the book! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $6.95!

http://www.hearttouchers.com/books

Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.

Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted!

The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com

 

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Let's Make a Deal

Okay, so here's the deal. You're 47 years old and are doing fairly well financially. You know a 90-year-old woman who lives alone in a rather nice house. You figure she's not going to be around much longer, so you offer to pay her $500 a month as long as she lives, provided you get her house when she dies. If she agreed, would you make the deal?
   
We like to think that certain risks we take are "sure things," yet life proves us wrong again and again. This very deal was made in France in 1965. The 47-year-old man was a lawyer, so he wrote everything up, sat back, and waited. And waited. And waited.
   
In fact, he waited until 1995. That's when he died. The woman, in the meantime, was still going strong. Her name was Jeanne Calment, who is now in the record books as the person with the highest age ever authenticated. She celebrated her 122nd birthday on February 21, 1997, and died the following August. By the time of the lawyer's death, she had received 900,000 francs ($180,000) for her house--three times its actual value. On Calment's 120th birthday, the lawyer joked, "We all make bad deals in life."

His comment pretty much sums up the moral of this story, but perhaps we need to take a closer look at why it was such a bad deal. It's the same reason so many of us make bad deals: we're suckered into looking only at the short-term consequences of the things we do. We convince ourselves we're thinking long-term, but we're wrong.

Maybe we turn our backs on long-time friends, hoping to move up into a more exclusive social group at school, but end up with NEITHER set of friends. Maybe we spend every available dollar on clothes and entertainment, hoping to establish a decent image, but eventually find ourselves with neither image nor cash. As we look back over our lives, many of the hopes and dreams we thought were long-term turn out to be quite short-lived.

Several of our decisions are much more short-sighted than we would like to admit. We certainly need to plan for the future and make wise decisions in that regard. Yet let's learn from this French lawyer that we won't always see our best intentions come to fruition. His $180,000 investment didn't pay off (for HIM) at all. Just think what else he could have done with the money.

There's probably not a day that goes by when you won't have an opportunity to make a decision that has eternal consequences. Any time you choose to talk to a loner, to volunteer for public service, to commit yourself to a worthwhile church project, or to make some similar decision, you never know what the results might be for someone else in the context of eternity. So as you make your long-range plans, never forget to make the most of today as well.

On your own ...

Read Luke 12:13-21.
http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NLT&passage=Luke+12%3A13-21

Why do you think Jesus told this parable? The man's decision to build bigger barns seems practical, so why is he used as a negative example? What do you think Jesus means when he encourages us to have "a rich relationship with God"?

From the YS Student Newsletter
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com

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Thought For The Day:

"Swallowing angry words before you say them is better than having to eat them afterwards."

Verse for the Day:

"From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest of his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."--Proverbs 18:20,21

Teen's Thought For The Day:

"A well trained memory is one that permits you to forget everything that isn't worth remembering."

Parent's Thought For The Day

"Dear Mother -- You know that nothing can ever change what we have always been and will always be to each other."--Franklin Roosevelt

Coach's Thought For The Day

"There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopless about them."--Clare Booth Luce

Deep Thought For The Day:

"If swimming is so good for your shape, then why do whales look the way they do?"

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Author MICHAEL T. POWERS
www.Heart4Teens.com

Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 19 other inspirational books.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

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ALL-STAR Ministry

--The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI

If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:30 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerne Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.)

Currently we have students from Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager.

THIS WEEK:

All-Stars: July 18:  Mystery Night! You don't know what we are going to do or where we may be going.... but be sure to be there on time!

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UPCOMING TOPICS:

July 25: Becoming Real Men and Women

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Thursday July 8: Trip to Great America!

Saturday July 24: Canoe Trip down the Sugar River (Guys only)

September 18-20: Youth Fall Retreat at Phantom Ranch!

October 29-30: Mall of America Trip!  (Ladies only)

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All-Stars has extended its time to 6:00 - 8:30 PM on Sunday nights. 6:00 - 6:30 will be time for the youth to chat and discuss anything they want with the youth leaders or each other. 6:30 - 7:00 PM will be for games or fun activities and then 7:00 - 8:30 PM will be for the lesson and discussion time. Students are still welcome to "hang out" after 8:30 PM if they want, as the leaders are usually at the church until at least 10:00 PM, and some nights even later. (For the past couple of months the students have continually complained that we are running out of time before we get to really discuss the topics in full and asked if we could have longer teaching times... I know, most of you are probably now getting back up off the floor from the shock. have been most encouraged that the teens have been wanting to stay longer to be able to discuss the lessons more fully.)

The Outlet: "Get plugged into Jesus Christ!" (Teen Cell Groups)

Wednesday night community groups for teens. The groups are limited to no more than ten teens and will be originally split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Extreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community.

"Extreme Teens" meet Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 PM at the church. (September -May) This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them.

We are very excited at what God is doing with our youth!

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Reading Books, Changing Lives!

For those of you who love to read or love to give out books as gifts...

You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with!

If you love to read inspirational stories, these books are most likely those you will eventually buy anyway. And how cool would it be to be able to buy books like those in the Chicken Soup series for your friends and family with a personalized autographed message by one of the contributing authors! How's that for a unique gift! Check out this link to find out more!

http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books